


Blue On Gold

by cuddleslutloki



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Not Related, Arranged Marriage, Bottom Loki (Marvel), Coming of Age, Genderless Loki, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Loki and Thor Are Not Related, M/M, Murder, POV Alternating, Present Tense, Shapeshifter Loki (Marvel), Shapeshifting, Top Thor (Marvel), Tournaments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 06:37:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15067316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddleslutloki/pseuds/cuddleslutloki
Summary: "Thor is very a young child when his mother tells him he's been betrothed. He doesn't know what that means."





	Blue On Gold

Thor is very a young child when his mother tells him he's been betrothed. He doesn't know what that means. She explains that his father arranged a match for him with a prince from Jotunheim, that the kingdoms are to be united.

He still doesn't understand, but happily starts learning one of the main Jotnar dialects spoken in the city of Utgard.

 

When Loki is born he is small, too small, and the nurses almost think him on the brink of death with his mother who passed before him until they hear his cries. He lives, and he shakes the air with magic. Laufey mourns his wife's death and holds Loki in his arms and knows at once that this prince can buy a future for his people. 

A letter is sent to Odin Allfather, and a raven returns in its place. Jotunheim will rise and join the nine.

 

Thor begs his father to take him to Jotunheim, he's been promised since he was young, not even three hundred, and he's never met the prince he's to marry. More than eighty years of waiting, of learning languages and customs, and he's never even seen the silver sunrise over Utgard. Odin ruffles his hair and commends him on his excitement. 

Still, he's left behind. 

 

Loki meets Odin when the only words he knows in the Aesir tongue are hello and thank you. It's fine either way, because Odin speaks to him in Jotnar and tells him that his betrothed yearns to meet him. Laufey is happy, so Loki is happy. 

He's told that he's the future of their two peoples because of his nature. No one says more than that. 

Odin sends a private tutor to help with his seiðr lessons, to teach him the ways of Asgard as well as learning from his own people. 

 

Thor finally meets his betrothed more than three hundred years after they’re promised to each other and suddenly understands why. Loki is several centuries younger than he is. They were promised to each other when Loki was just an infant. He's very young still, chubby face and chubby fingers where Thor has begun to thin out as he approaches adolescence. 

Their regalia looks like costumes as they walk to each other for proper introductions. Thor bows deeply, then Loki bows in return. 

Thor introduces himself in his very practiced Central Jotnar dialect, and Loki's eyes light up. 

Loki returns the gesture, his accent thick around the Aesir syllables, but Thor understands him well. 

Applause erupts and Loki is looking at him like he hung every star in the sky. 

 

Loki likes Thor. He's nice, and his friends are nice. It’s too hot here, but the trees are pretty. Loki's brother Helbindi accompanies him for the lunch they share in the gardens, and Thor speaks with them in Jotnar. Loki doesn't understand what they're talking about because he's not a warrior yet, but he likes being here. Thor is older than him, but he's glad they get to be friends.

 

It's another hundred years before Thor sees Loki again. His parents travel with him to Jotunheim for his official introduction to their court. Laufey greets him with a smile and Thor doesn't know how he ever forgot how tall the giant king is. 

Utgard sparkles in the summer sun, the spires almost blinding. 

He sees Loki standing up the stairs and smiles. Loki smiles back and ducks his head. 

As they head in he and Loki walk side by side, then come to stand in the center of the court. Loki is up to his left shoulder. He's grown taller since their first meeting. They bow to Laufey, then to each other and announce themselves in unison. 

“We are two that will become one, Thor Odinson, Loki-prince Laufeyjarson.” The words are said in such sync that Thor thinks for a moment he and Loki have only one voice.

The Jotunn court sings to them and Thor almost forgets to breathe. It's real now. He's to be married when Loki comes of age. 

 

Loki wishes Thor could stay longer. They barely know each other. He's mad that his brother took up all of Thor's time again. It was one thing when he was still a toddler and couldn't even speak clearly in the Aesir dialect, but this was supposed to be different. 

His father laughs when he complains, but not unkindly. 

Helbindi chases him halfway across the castle when Loki shrinks all of his clothing so they’re even too small for Loki himself. 

Their father laughs harder at that, but still makes him change the clothes back. 

 

Barely twenty-five years pass before Thor goes back to Jotunheim. This time only his mother comes, his father remains to negotiate trade agreements. There’s much this realm can offer that needs to be regulated. They have no power of their own, so Asgard must advocate for them.

They're in a massive carriage drawn by the biggest bears Thor has ever seen. Their fur is white, their muzzles blue, their eyes red. Great horns curl up from their skulls that are harnessed to the driver’s leads. The beasts are calm and quiet and nothing like the horses Thor is used to.

His mother gently pries, trying to get him to talk. 

“You're nervous?” She asks.

Thor shrugs and examines a seam in his coat sleeve.

“It feels real now, doesn't it?” She's smiling at him and Thor wonders if she read his mind.

He nods and chews on his lip. 

She grabs his hand, their gloves too thick to lace their fingers. “Believe me, I know how you feel. I was promised to your father, and I'd only met him twice before we married.”

Thor hums and rubs her hand with his thumb. “Why am I marrying a prince? How will we have an heir?”

Frigga blushes at that, more than she has from the cold, and clears her throat. “Well, that's a conversation that can wait. You won't need to worry about that for a long while.”

Thor groans and focuses on the landscape. Forests tower over them as they get closer to the royal city.

 

Loki changes three times, then he finally calls his seiðr tutor, Brynna, in and she picks the perfect outfit. It's a forest green gown with a high neck and a floor length hem. Gold chains adorn his neck and ears, draping around his face from the simple circlet on his head. Thor's first courting gift. The shine of the metal contrasts his skin and makes his eyes stand out even more.

Horns blare and Loki runs to the window to see Thor and Frigga exit their carriage. 

Thor's hair glows gold in the sunlight, and the furs of his coats are dyed the deepest red Loki has ever seen outside of his own eyes.

Brynna smiles down at them. “He's a beautiful prince, isn't he, Highness?”

Loki nods. Helbindi isn't going to hog the conversation this time.

 

Loki has grown again in such a short time. His face is still chubby with youth, but he's almost Thor's height. The gown he wears is perfectly tailored and he looks every bit a prince. He's smiling and wearing the circlet Thor commissioned for him and Thor forgets some of his nerves. 

Perhaps he could stay here a while after all.

 

Frigga stands in the middle of their dinner and announces that she and Odin have graciously accepted Laufey-king’s offer to house Thor for thirty years. Loki almost drops his drinking bowl. Nobody told him. 

He catches Brynna’s eye where she sits at a lower table and she winks at him. 

Loki stares when Thor stands, his voice fills the hall. “I'm glad to be asked, and I'm excited to learn more about your people. Thank you for inviting me, Laufey-king, Loki-prince.”

Loki can't stop smiling for the rest of the feast.

 

It's cold in a way Thor never knew possible. He practically lives in his furs, only leaving them to bathe every third day. Brynna shares his misery to an extent. She's been able to adjust during the centuries she’s lived here, and Thor only sees her wearing thin furs and woven gloves. He wonders if he'll get to that point. 

The residency is only supposed to be thirty years, less than a third of what's traditional. Laufey is gracious, but Thor supposes he doesn't have much choice. 

Asgard rules and unites the realms. Jotunheim has tried for centuries to rise up and be counted, to share in the riches that come with being a true realm. Laufey has traded his youngest son for the privilege. 

Thor curls into a ball as he lays to sleep and knows he'll have to ask for more braziers tomorrow. 

 

Loki finishes his lessons quicker than he ever has and races his attendants to the library where Thor is practicing some of the lesser-spoken dialects of Jotnar. He stumbles on the southern word for dry snow, and Loki gently corrects him. 

They look at each other, Thor’s eyes widen at seeing him but then his lips curl into a smile as he repeats Loki's pronunciation. 

They're the smallest ones in the room, but Loki feels like a true giant when Thor smiles at him. 

 

Thor has an idea, and he brings it to Loki. “I want to see the sunrise over the palace. I've seen paintings, but I want to see the way the ice looks in person.”

Loki looks off out a window and then smiles. “I know where we can go. I'll get you before dawn.”

Thor feels his heart grow light in his excitement. 

 

Loki is quiet when he sneaks through the halls. He's not supposed to leave on his own like this, but Thor wants to see the silver sunrise and Loki won’t be the one to tell Thor no.

Thor is already in his coats and waiting outside of his room when Loki grabs his hand. 

He pulls Thor through the halls and down the stairs, he's barefoot and only wearing his sleeping gown. It's summer and for him it's warm, but Thor has thick boots. Loki wonders if Thor will ever get used to the cold. Thor will be a king and they'll live in Asgard, but maybe he can be here longer than thirty years. Maybe he can stay until they're to wed.

The snow is light, only up to Loki’s calves and it hasn’t needed to be plowed or packed down. They run through the stables and Loki takes his favorite bear. Thor climbs up eagerly and then they're off. Right as the stable master comes running after them.

They both scream with laughter as they get away and go up a nearby hill. 

 

They'll be in trouble, Thor knows, but Loki never gives up. When they get up the hill overlooking the city they turn around to see the sun begin to rise. Thor stops breathing as the first light of dawn hits the palace.

Fog rolls off of the towers and the whole thing glows bright blue. He sees shadows where a rock structure lies beneath the ice, but some spires and most of the ramparts are made entirely of ice. The sky is the brightest, most brilliant white bleeding into blue, and the silhouette of the palace glows in the silver this sight is named for. Tears well in his eyes when he realizes what Loki will give up to marry him. 

“It's incredible,” he whispers.

Loki is smiling at him, his red eyes soft and his skin almost sparkling. 

The guards and the stable master find them quickly and drag them to Laufey. Loki says he wanted to show Thor the sunrise, he lies as easily as anything, and Laufey chides the guards for interrupting his morning for something so trivial.

Thor and Loki laugh as they break fast. 

 

Twenty years pass too quickly for Loki's liking. He and Thor have taken many of their lessons together, learning the history of Jotunheim and Asgard, learning to rule, learning and learning until they're so bored they run away for days on end. 

Thor hunts and Loki builds shelters with magic and ice. They have small forts scattered around the countryside, a line of them that extends farther and father every trip. After the fifth time they ran away no one came after them. Loki thinks that his father is letting them do this so that they grow close and their future alliance with Asgard is secured. 

He doesn't care, so long as he gets Thor to himself. Loki is a jealous prince, and Thor seems happy to humor his possessive nature. 

 

The last decade is too quick for Thor's liking. He feels the end of his thirty years coming like a sword for his neck. It's not long enough. He asks his father to extend the time, but Odin calls him back to Asgard anyway. They're not little children anymore, Thor is coming closer and closer to adulthood. 

Thor doesn't feel like an adult. He's almost nine hundred, nearly three centuries older than Loki, and he feels like a helpless little boy. Loki doesn't cry, neither does Thor, but they escape to their favorite fort and watch the sunrise over the forests with their fingers laced together. Thor’s gloves are in the way and he doesn’t think it’s fair that he hasn’t even gotten used to the weather yet.

“This sun will shine on us again,” Loki says, soft and hopeful. 

Thor nods. He doesn't want again. He wants tomorrow morning and the morning after. Asgard has no courting rite where the betrothed lives with their future family and he wants to demand they start just to keep Loki by his side. 

He feels the bifrost open at his back and can't help his tears. Loki still doesn't cry. 

Thor feels static on his skin and that night a storm hits, thunder rumbling in the clouds. He can't control it, and he knows at once this is why his father calls him back despite his pleas. 

 

Loki tamps down his sadness and his anger. He knows he'll see Thor again soon enough, but he's so angry and he can't stop being angry. He wishes the marriage could just happen already so they'd never have to be separated. Thor should never have to leave him.

When they part on the palace steps Thor forgoes a bow and kisses him instead, a quick chaste peck to his lips. His touch is like a fire brand on Loki's skin. They've never touched skin to skin before, and Loki wants more of it. 

Thor has tears in his eyes, but he smiles. 

“I'll come back.” He promises.

Loki touches his lips and nods. 

Frigga and Laufey share a look that Loki can't name.

 

The storms get worse when he's back home. Thor is sweating out of his skin, he can't even wear his first set of armor. He misses Loki terribly, and he barely touches his food when he eats.

His father pulls him aside one day and takes him for a walk high into the mountains where the snow never melts. Thor feels like he can breathe again, and barely resists jumping into the freezing river that carves the mountainside. 

“You miss Loki?” Odin asks. 

Thor sits in the snow and above him thunder roars. “I do.”

Odin hums and remains standing next to him. “You know why I didn't let you stay, don't you?”

Lightning strikes a nearby tree and blows it apart. Thor sighs. “I have to learn to control my power.”

“Yes. The seiðrmasters of Jotunheim are very skilled, but they're unfamiliar with Aesir power and tradition. Brynna alone wouldn't be enough to keep your contained.” Odin is speaking to him like he's a child and Thor scowls.

“Loki is brilliant with magic.” He says, his lower lip jutting out.

Odin chuckles and finally takes a seat next him. “Loki is younger than you are and still has much to learn himself.”

Thor writes his name in the snow in Jotnar script with his finger. It's nice, but it's still not cold enough here.

Odin watches him, his eye bright and alert. “You like Loki quite a lot, don't you?”

Thor frowns and shrugs his shoulders. “I'm supposed to, aren't I?”

Odin smiles and holds up one hand. “Of course, I meant nothing by it, it's a wonderful thing that the two of you get along so well. You'll see him again soon, Thor, just as soon as you can harness and control your power.”

“Then I'll master it quickly, father.” Thor declares. “I won't stop studying and I won't complain.”

Odin pats him on the back and they stay in the snow while Thor learns breathing exercises. 

 

Loki barely leaves his personal library for the next fifteen years after Thor leaves. Thor sends him letters and Loki loves them dearly, covets them and won’t share them with anyone. Usually Thor sends gifts with his letters, but Loki likes them because the words don’t show him how Thor is changing without him. Not the way images would.

He even dares to say this in a letter he writes back, silver fingered as he his silver tongued. With it he sends an ice dagger forged just for Thor. It's an ornament, really, not very functional with the heavy embellishments, but he thinks it's too beautiful not to send.

Thor sends him glass in return and Loki is confused by the jagged fractal shapes and even more by the dull white color. Then he reads Thor's letter and becomes afraid to touch it lest it break. Lightning glass. Thor was practicing with his powers on one of Asgard’s beaches. 

_ It's wild, like you. _ The letter says. 

Loki transports himself to the main hall and stares his father directly in the eyes. “I'm going to Asgard.”

Whether the bifrost takes him or he finds his own doorway, he’s going.

Laufey smiles and Helbindi rolls his eyes. 

 

Thor can't hold still long enough to let his mother braid his hair. It's just past his shoulders now, he's not cut it since before Jotunheim, and now he doesn't want to. 

Frigga pulls his hair and forces him still. “Thor, behave or we'll greet Loki on the bifrost without you.”

Thor freezes and meets his mother's eye in the mirror, his face a rictus of horror. “You wouldn't.”

She smiles at him and her eyebrows shoot up for a second. Oh, she definitely would. 

Thor fidgets with metal marbles, channeling his power through them as he finishes dressing. His father comes in at the end and presents him with a cape to fasten to the shoulders of his armor. He sees himself in the mirror and wonders what Loki will think. 

 

Loki forgets himself and runs right to Thor when they land, wrapping him in a tight hug that is returned fiercely. Their bodies act on muscle memory as they hold each other and laugh. 

Loki is elated to have his best friend back. 

Then he realizes just how hot it is. 

“You should have warned me about the heat.” Loki grouses.

Thor laughs and takes his hand as they walk to the palace. No gloves are in the way this time. Loki decides to tolerate the weather. 

 

Thor is disappointed Loki is only staying ten years, but he knows they’ll make the most of it. Loki will be here for the ceremony where Thor finally gets his promised weapon. He mastered his power over lightning quicker than any of his teachers thought possible and Odin has declared that for the accomplishment he'll be granted Mjolnir. 

It's the strongest weapon they have, and Thor wants Loki to see him wield it. 

 

Thor's friends are an excitable lot, and Loki isn't sure how he feels about them. He hasn't seen Thor for fifteen years and they've had him the entire time but they won't give them time alone. 

Loki tries not to sulk, but he can't hide from Thor. 

“They just want to get to know you, Loki,” he reassures. 

“They'll have plenty of time when we're married and I live here.” Loki replies.

Thor laughs through his nose. “You know I could say the same thing about you trying to have all of my time.”

Loki glares, and Thor only smiles. Thor doesn't say it. 

 

It's barely two years into Loki's stay when the tension boils over. Thor can see it coming but he can't stop it. 

Sif is angry, again, but this time Thor wants to side with her. Loki turned her hair from bright blonde to a deep black, and he botched the spell and now it can't be reversed. He's apologized, but Thor knows Loki is too amused to mean it. 

Thor nearly sides against him and almost gives an admonishment. Almost. 

Then Sif is yelling at Loki and her words make Thor's ears ring. 

“You spoiled, runt of a Jotunn princeling brat!” Everything stops around them and if Sif realizes what she's said, she doesn't show it. 

Loki recoils, his face falling into something dangerously dark. Thor steps between them and thunder claps so loudly that Sif jumps. 

“You will remember that he is your future king. You're angry, but it was an accident and there is no excuse for that disrespect.” Thor stands to his full height and he's shaking. He's so angry that the world around him is unclear. 

Sif backs away from him, her brow creased but eyes wide. Terror, Thor recognizes. He lets his anger go but says nothing. 

Loki grasps his hand gently and smiles to him. Thor will apologize to her later. 

 

Loki sighs and licks the inside of his teeth where he sits across from Sif. Thor frowns in the middle of them. 

“One of you say something.” Thor pleads. 

Loki sighs again, loudly. “Something.”

Sif raises an eyebrow and purses her lips. “Something.”

Loki narrows his eyes at her, then looks at Thor. He's a prince, heir apparent, and his head is firmly planted on the table. 

“Okay, clearly this isn't going to work today.” His head is still on table. 

“Clearly,” Sif says as she stands and stalks off. 

Loki glares at her back, but then Thor is looking at him with big, blue eyes the color of the midday sky in Utgard and Loki breaks. 

“Fine, but I'm waiting until she's calm.” Loki crosses his arms over his chest, but he's biting back a smile because Thor is giving him the softest look he's ever seen in his life.

 

Thor is patient, but things are awkward and tense because Sif leaves whenever Loki is near, and since he's always at Thor's side she's never around.

Fandral is taken with Loki, and Volstagg has rarely met anyone he can't take as a friend. Hogun likes Loki, too, both of them prone to conversation about travel since Hogun has and Loki hasn't. 

They all know the spell was an accident, but none of them were on the receiving end. They're quick to forgive Loki with as charming as he is and with the way Thor can't ever be apart from him.

Loki is waiting, as he said, and he's much calmer than before the fight. Thor isn't sure why, but he'll take it. 

 

Loki finds Sif in the library seated at a table in the middle of the main aisle. Partially because it's quiet and partially because there are enough people around that if she stalks off it will be noticed and remarked on. 

She knows this and gives him a withering look, or what might pass as one in such a hot climate. Loki smiles at her. 

He takes a seat across from her and clasps his hands together in front of himself, determined for this to work. He will not waste anymore of this short decade on something so trivial. 

“I am sorry, Lady Sif,” he begins, “I truly didn't mean for the spell to be permanent. It was only supposed to last a day.”

She says nothing and she doesn't look at him. 

“For what it's worth, I think you look better this way. More striking.” Loki tries. 

Sif rolls her eyes and shakes her head at him, then forcefully opens a book and stares at it. 

Loki groans. “Oh by the Norns, girl, I'm trying to make peace. Will you not have it?”

She makes a face at him, brows drawn together and lips pulled back. “Why?”

He frowns at her. “Thor cares about you.”

She scoffs. “He  _ loves _ you.”

Loki doesn't say anything for a moment, but he lets her words dance in his mind. 

“You're his friend,” he says.

“You're a future king of Asgard,” she spits back. 

Loki grinds his teeth, his patience is dangerously thin. “I will not quarrel with you any longer, my lady. Thor cares about you and I care about him. I will not see him hurt from your absence any longer. Do not punish him simply because you detest me.”

Sif looks up at him and her throat moves around a rough swallow. She’s Thor’s own age, older than he is, but he has a higher station and more practice with bratty nobles than she probably realizes. 

They simply watch each other for a moment, then she sets the book down. 

“Tell me about Jotunheim, I've never been.” She says, her voice soft. 

Loki considers her for a moment. “Does Thor not speak of it?”

Sif snorts and actually smiles. “Thor only speaks of you. For all I know the palace at Utgard is just a sculpture of your face.”

Loki laughs and feels the unease he's been carrying leave him. He won't try to undo the spell, because he truly meant that she looks better this way, but he thinks she can be a friend even if he doesn't reverse it.

Loki pulls an illusion up in his hands, the spires of his home shining in false light. Sif leans forward and smiles at it. 

“It's not a sculpture of my face, I assure you. It's thousands upon thousands of years old, and it's where I was born.” Loki feels an aching fondness in his chest. 

“You know, I was trying not to laugh when Thor asked us to say something and you actually said ‘something’.” Sif grins at him. 

Loki lets the illusion disappear from his fingers. “It was even funnier when you said it right after. Did you see how he set his head down?” 

Sif nods and her nose scrunches on her laugh. Loki elects to forget the fight. 

 

Thor learns quickly that having Loki and Sif make amends was a terrible decision. The worst. 

Sif has the thickest Aesir accent he's ever heard when she calls him a fool in Jotnar. Loki doesn't correct her and Thor doesn't want to bother. He pushed for this and, aside from their penchant for pushing his buttons, he likes that they're friends.

Fandral is sharpening a dagger as Loki teaches Sif to swear. He thinks it's hilarious. 

“You know, this will come in handy for the wedding,” he says. 

Thor squints at him. “How could this possibly help?”

Fandral shrugs. “If anyone insults you, she'll know.”

Thor’s mouth falls open and he squints, again, more. “I speak twelve dialects of Jotnar, I can tell perfectly well if someone insults me.”

Sif laughs and Loki is smiling at him and Thor can barely tell which way is up anymore. 

 

Loki has adjusted to the heat, but it's eight of ten years and he doesn't want to leave. They walk arm in arm in the gardens, Thor's skin golden and glowing in a way it never could on Jotunheim. They walk slowly, watched by attendants but not followed overly closely. An illusion of privacy.

In a few hours Thor will be declared a man, he will be given Mjolnir, and all they'll be waiting for is Loki. 

They stop in front of nursery beds of young flowers. They're the brightest blue possible, their centers are red. Loki's breath catches in his chest. 

“I asked if they could make flowers that look like you,” Thor says, his voice soft and sweet. 

Loki smiles. “You're very dramatic.”

Thor laughs and cups the side of his face. “Aye, and I'm not likely to change.”

He laughs and presses his face into the touch. It's frustrating to be so close and to have what he wants be kept at a distance. He leans in and kisses Thor, a quick press of their lips together as Thor had done when he left Jotunheim. 

Lightning spreads out across the sky and Loki feels powerful.

 

Thor is a man. He's an adult and he’ll be expected to begin fulfilling his duties. Mjolnir feels like an old friend in his hand, and with her his power is so easy to focus. He can begun his work as a prince and look forward to his future with his betrothed.

That’s all going to Hel when he hears that there has been another offer for Loki's hand.

Loki looks confused, Laufey is calling him home early and Thor is panicking. They can't do this. Since Loki was born he’s been Thor’s, they’ve been promised since Thor could barely walk or speak. They belong to each other. 

No one can take his best friend from him. 

Odin grasps his shoulders as Loki bawls and screams and fights. He's cussing his brother out in every dialect their people speak, each nastier than the last. Thor has never seen Loki cry and it's enraging. 

Helbindi won't look at any of them. It's politics, and Thor is not only a powerful warrior, he's a very skilled tactician. This is a play, it has to be. Laufey would never go back on his word. It's a test. Thor will pass it. He'll sew terror into the heart of any who would dare to think that they could ever have Loki. 

Loki clings to him, mouth open to speak, and Thor lets storms roll in. Sparks are flying from his eyes. The light from them bounces off of Loki's eyes and skin. Lightning flashes in the clouds and reaches out toward them and Loki stares at it in awe, his fingers still tangled in Thor's cape. 

Helbindi looks at him and smiles. Asgard will not suffer to have what's hers taken by anything unworthy. Any who call after Loki are unworthy. Only Thor can have him. 

Loki kisses his cheek as they leave. He's still crying, but he knows Thor won't just let this happen. Odin squeezes Thor's shoulders and leans in to speak into his ear. 

“You know what's happening?” Odin asks.

Thor nods. “I'm the only one worthy of him.”

Odin hums. “You'll have to prove it. You may have to kill. Jotunheim has a long tradition of tourneys.”

Lightning strikes the bridge when the bifrost opens. Kings often kill to protect what's theirs. Thor is no different. 

 

Loki hates this young Alfish king. He's made a handsome offer for Loki, truly. Jewels and furs, some lovely clothing in every color except one Loki likes. The only thing Loki cares about are the bottles of wine, six of them, all very fine in quality in age. Still, it is paltry in comparison to what Thor will bring. Loki knows Thor and he saw the anger, felt it, Thor is not king yet but he will come with a show of force and wealth fit for his station. The tourney was announced a week ago, and there have been two more offers for Loki’s hand in the interim. 

He sips ice plum juice and wishes he could have some of the good autumn mead that Thor had snuck for them in Asgard. 

The king is speaking to him and smiling. Loki doesn't hear. 

“Have you ever seen Thor fight?” He asks. 

The king frowns and shakes his head. Loki laughs, sharp and as cruel as he can manage. 

Helbindi gives a chuckle, too. This king has made a mistake. 

 

Thor breathes and holds the power of the storm in his belly, warmed from within. He won't need his coats for Jotunheim anymore. 

Heimdall inclines his head as they enter. “Fair warning, my prince, you're going to hate them.”

“I know that.” Thor replies.

“You have no idea how much.” Heimdall says, and plunges his sword down to send them off. 

The carts with his gifts were sent ahead, and Thor hopes every unworthy thing who would come to claim Loki has seen them. 

 

Laufey sends Loki to greet the procession coming to the palace. Asgardian banners come down the main road, and Loki frowns when he doesn't see Thor. He does see Sif, though, and he smiles at her. She returns it. Her hair is still black and has grown to her mid-back. It’s tied and braided in a warrior’s style.

Loki realizes why Thor isn't with the procession. This is his gift.

There are two carts filled with gilded chests, probably clothes and jewelry, then two more filled with bottles of wine and mead and stacked with wrapped packages of food. Behind those is yet another set of carts with Asgardian weapons, forged big enough for giants to wield. He can give luxury, he can provide drink and food, and he can and will protect. A very clear message that Loki loves, even through the lack of finesse.

Sif kneels before him. “Loki-prince, I come with gifts from prince Thor, who sends his love and promises to win this tourney in your honor.” 

He draws her up with a gentle hand, uncaring of the familiarity it betrays. “I accept these gifts, they are worthy.”

The young Alfish king is in the palace when they walk by and he almost looks angry, then he sees the carts filled with Thor's gifts and he pales. 

If Loki is lucky the king may just leave, but if he's luckier then he'll get to see Thor beat the shit out of this man.

 

The other suitors are lined up on the palace steps as Thor approaches on foot. His father rides Sleipnir behind him, their pace easy. His mother remains in Asgard, but he knows she'll see them if she wants. 

Thor kneels before Laufey. “Great king, I'm grateful to have this chance to prove myself to you. Though, if I fight all three of them at once it will be a short tourney.”

Loki laughs and Thor smiles with it, warmed further by the storm in his blood. The other suitors have noticed he's not wearing a coat and each regard him differently. 

The one who began this is a king from Alfheim, from one of the lesser colonies they rule, he has a name Thor doesn't care about or remember. Hopefully he has a sibling, because Thor wants to kill him for the insult he’s paid. Next to him Thor sees some lesser cousin from Vanaheim and dismisses him. 

The last has Thor intrigued. A seiðrmaster from Svartalfar, he's not here to win Loki for himself, he's a champion for their prince. Thor wants to fight him the most. 

Laufey indicates for him to stand, smiling down at him. “Well, prince, we wouldn't want to waste the time of these distinguished callers, we'll do one match per day, and we'll leave the arena open for a week in case others decide to try for my son's hand.”

Odin dismounts and puts his hand on Thor's back. “Well met, Laufey-king. My son is eager to prove himself. What is the nature of these matches?”

“Traditionally each is decided by the combatants. But we do accept battles to the death.” Laufey lets his words hang in the air. 

Thor smiles as he looks at the other suitors. “I accept all comers and all conditions. Killing them included.” 

The seiðrmaster smiles back. Thor hopes their match is the last. 

 

Loki slips into Thor's room just after midnight. It's the room he had when he lived here, Loki made sure of that. 

Thor has changed since mastering his powers. He no longer needs the thick furs as he did when they were boys. In fact he wears nothing at all. As he sleeps the covers come no higher than his hips and Loki's mouth goes dry. 

When they were younger he wasn't sure how it would work, marrying his best friend and having to produce an heir with him. Now Loki knows and he desires it greatly. In two centuries he'll be of age for his people and they can start planning the wedding. 

All Thor has to do is what he does best: win.

Helbindi is standing in the hallway when Loki leaves and he raises an eyebrow. “You can't grant him your favor, you know that.”

Loki looks up at his brother. “I just wanted to see him.”

“You'll see him fight tomorrow, is that not enough?” Helbindi wears a thick crown of ice, heir to this palace. A protector, like Thor. 

“I like to see him equally in peace and war. Goodnight, Bindi.” Loki walks quickly back to his room and only sleeps when he summons it by force through a spell.

 

Thor meets a king in his first match. A man above and below him. 

The king wields a double-ended spear, and he's clearly skilled. He's older than Thor but smaller, his frame lithe and flexible. In another instance Thor could commend him for being a good representation of his people. Alfheim should be proud to have him. 

As it stands they're lucky he requested a match to first blood only, or Thor would slaughter him for the mess he's started.

Thor lets his power rise in his blood and begins stripping off his armor. Gasps roll through the crowd at he bares his torso. The Alfish king has a good face for the fight, he doesn't react. It will be easier for Thor to move without the furs and armor. His opponent cannot handle the autumn chill of this realm, and his coats will slow him. 

A horn blasts and the fight starts.

 

Loki's heart races as Thor strips out of his armor. He leaves the lower half on, but his torso is bare and Alfish spears are sharp and usually poisoned. This is a blatant challenge, he’s bragging.

Helbindi is roaring his approval and Laufey sits with his position as relaxed as usual. Odin stands at Laufey's right side, his ravens circling above. 

The king races forward and he's so quick it's almost a blur, but Thor moves out of his way, his steps light. He's smiling, his hammer in his hand at his hip. Not raised, not ready to retaliate. Thor is toying with him like a great beast chasing prey. 

Thor moves out of the way of each attack easily. His size hides his speed. The king is skilled, of course, but Thor is angry enough not to hold back or be courteous to him. Thor will run the man into exhaustion just to show he can. 

It's more than an hour of Thor laughing and prancing around the ring. He isn't hit once.

Mjolnir cracks open his opponent's skull when he dares to stumble once tired. Thor is clearly offended the match didn't take longer. He sneers at the king’s prone form where it falls in the snow. Blood splatters around them, dripping from Mjolnir. The horns sound and the match is over.

The king lives, though he wakes with no sight in his left eye and no hearing in the same ear. 

 

Thor wears specially tailored Jotunn clothing at dinner, loose fabric without sleeves, no gloves. He only wears shoes because his father gives him a look. Odin tells him not to show off too much, just enough.

The Alfish king has left already, his attendants going with him. Tomorrow Thor fights his cousin, a match to knock out. No one else has come forward with a challenge and Thor is both glad and disappointed. The whole ordeal has been so frustrating that he could use more fodder for his anger. 

At least his wish was granted to have the Svartalfar last, and he is excited to learn that the prince commanded his servant to fight to the death.

Loki smiles at him through dinner and his face is bright when Thor rolls lightning over the top edge of his drinking bowl. 

The Vanir prince won't meet Thor's eye. He's fine with that.

 

When Loki slips into Thor's room again he's awake, shirtless as he lounges in bed with a book in his lap. The braziers aren't lit, the only light on the room is the moon pouring in through the window. 

Thor smiles at him and pats the spot next to him. Loki crawls up the bed and feels heat rolling off of Thor's body as he settles in. He'll start sweating at this rate. 

“Did the fight please you?” Thor asks, his voice low. 

Loki nods. “It did, though fight may be a strong word for it.”

Thor chuckles and his grin goes sideways. “Aye, it was disgraceful that he tired so easily.”

Loki smiles and places his hand on Thor's chest to see the contrast in Thor’s skin and his own. Blue on gold. The contact is nearly burning him, but he loves it. He slides his hand down Thor's thick chest to his stomach, fingers twining with Thor's when he reaches the book in Thor's lap.

“Do you know why we were promised to each other when I was born?” Thor's heat is seeping into his skin and it almost feels like being in Asgard, the heat all around him and everything glowing. 

Thor shakes his head. “I've asked, but no one will tell me, and there aren't any stories to explain it.”

Loki lays his head on Thor's shoulder. “Once I found out I asked them not to tell you.”

Thor brings his hand up and kisses it. “Why?”

“Because I want to show you.” Loki wants to be closer, but they can't. 

“When will you show me?” Thor asks. 

“After you win the tourney.” Loki sighs softly when Thor presses a kiss to the inside of his wrist.

Thor frowns against his skin. “But we can't. You're not yet of age.”

Loki laughs quietly. “I didn't say I'd let you sink your cock into me, Thor, just that I'd show you. But… it's good to know that you want to.”

There's suddenly more heat in the air, rolling off of Thor's skin in waves and now Loki is sweating. 

“When,” Thor pauses, swallows, his voice is thick, “when did things change between us?”

Loki presses a kiss into Thor's shoulder. “Do you not like it?”

“Oh, it's not that, I just… I can't figure out when I started wanting you like this.” Thor releases his hand. “I should sleep. I have to punish my cousin tomorrow.”

Loki hums his amusement and begins climbing out of the bed. “Punish? Are you taking this so personally?”

Thor nods and sets his book on the bedside table. “You're mine. It's an insult.”

Loki turns away so Thor won't see the smile he can't suppress. “Is your cousin powerful?”

Thor huffs and rustles around in the blankets. “Next to me?”

Loki forces his lips to stay straight and looks at Thor over his shoulder. “Well, then I expect a good show to make up for knowing tomorrow's victor ahead of time.”

Thor smiles at him, but his eyes are closed. “I could never live if I disappointed you, my love.”

Loki takes his leave and barely keeps himself from sprinting through the halls back to his room. 

 

The sun is high and the sky is clear, and again Thor forgoes the top half of his armor. Yesterday has left him energized, ready to humiliate his cousin. It might cause problems with his mother's family, but they started it. 

His name is Skeldur, or something similar. Odin told him, but he's never met this man before and he can't be bothered to care now. 

Skeldur has a sword made from very fine Vanir steel. The blade is straight and true, gleaming in the sunlight. Thor sets Mjolnir down in the snow and smiles when Helbindi laughs from behind him. He doesn't need a weapon for this match, there are plenty of ways to knock his cousin unconscious.

The horns blare and his cousin runs at him. Thor moves, but not enough to fully dodge. The blade slices him across the back. It's a thin cut that burns and bleeds quickly. He smiles and turns to face his opponent. 

Their eyes meet and Thor sees a sharp flash in his cousin's golden eyes. He rushes forward again, and again Thor allows the blade to slice into him. The snow is flecked in red and his leathers are quickly sticking to his skin as blood runs down his body. 

They turn and turn around the arena, traversing the length of it. Thor is covered in his own blood, his skin burning like he's been whipped. His cousin is heaving and panting, and Thor sees when it sinks in; when the lesson is understood. 

Thor is only injured because he allows himself to be. 

It's nothing more than a game because Thor cannot bring himself to see this cousin as a credible threat to his claim. 

A fire ignites in his cousin's hands and Thor is amused by it, laughing when flames engulf the blade. Skeldur roars and runs again, and the blade runs Thor through. It's agony, but what hurts more is the way Loki screams. The arena falls to silence. The flames are extinguished as the blade is lodged halfway into his body. 

Thor grabs his cousin's hands and pulls him flush until the hilt presses into his abdomen. Skeldur tries to pull away but Thor holds him close.

His fear reeks. “Thor, cousin, please don't kill me. My father sent me, this wasn't my idea. Please.”

Thor grabs him by the throat and lifts him. His blood is running down Skeldur's neck, down his own arm where his hand is soaked with it, the sword sits inside him like a tap to a tree, just draining him more and more every second. 

So much of his blood decorates the arena and he hopes no one forgets this sight. 

“This was a mistake, cousin, and you will never forget the lesson I teach you here.” Thor crushes the delicate throat in his hand, cartilage snapping. 

He calls lightning down and strikes his cousin, then drops his limp, but living, body. 

No one moves as Thor takes a step back. He turns and faces his father and Laufey, then slowly pulls the sword out of his midsection. It falls into the snow and his blood blooms around it. His head is swimming as he calls Mjolnir to himself, a summoned storm raining down on him and restoring him. 

Freshly healed, he picks clean snow up in his hands and uses it to scrub his body of the dried blood from the match. The pages catch up to the moment and finally the horns sound and the match is over. 

Thor takes his victory and finds pride in the terrified silence that greets it. 

 

Loki slaps Thor across the face with as much force as he can muster. Thor falters, and Loki is enraged that all he gets in return is a smile. 

“You will not ever allow someone to run you through like that again!” Loki is screaming at him, his father and brother silent behind him. 

They stand in a private receiving room, the arena visible outside is still soaked in Thor's blood.

Odin is in conference with the Vanir ambassador, trying to keep the king, his brother in law, calm since one of their nephews nearly died. They were viciously humiliated in a way that they feel was to excess, especially considering it was a lesser prince. 

Loki does not agree, but he won’t admit that here.

Thor takes the hand that slapped him and kisses the palm. “I'm sorry to have distressed you, but did you enjoy the show?”

Loki gapes and then closes his mouth and bites his tongue. It was a delicious show of power, and he knows one day he'll look back on it with less anger. Thor kisses his hand again. Loki snatches it back and points at his face. They stand in silence for a moment, then Loki withdraws his hand. 

“You haven't said no,” Thor whispers. 

Loki raises an eyebrow. “To what end would you go to prove yourself here?”

“Any, my love.” Thor answers, his eyes are calm and his lips curl into a smile. He looks sweet and soft, like he isn't promising to die or murder tomorrow. 

Loki isn't sure how anyone could think they'd be enough when they know who he's had all his life. Who could think they're equal to this storm in front of him?

 

Loki doesn't visit him in the night, and he knows why. He’s nervous, too.

The wounds healed perfectly. There's no evidence of what happened, but Thor can feel the ache from where the sword went through him. He'll be more careful tomorrow. He's even going to wear his armor. 

Against other warriors Thor has no match, but he'll need to take care against this magician from the Svartalf court. 

 

The sky is hidden behind thick clouds, dark and heavy with a snow that's just begun to fall. Thor wears his armor and Loki can sense the difference in this match. Before the opponents were toys, but Thor respects this man; even if he holds no respect for the prince who sent him.

Helbindi is quiet at Loki's side, eyes stuck forward on the match. Loki knows there’s a difference between this and any other time Thor has killed. It’s easy to kill someone when they come into your home, invading it. That’s defense. This is not.

Thor will commit a legal murder, or he'll die and force Loki to learn necromancy. 

The horns blast and Thor, for the first time in these bouts, attacks his opponent right away. He moves as quickly as lightning, crowding the Svartalf and landing heavy blows. It's a good tactic, but Loki knows this won't be easy. 

 

Thor can't get in a good enough hit, he can't land one with Mjolnir. This Svartalf is part warrior and part magician and he dodges the heaviest of Thor's punches and kicks. The storm above heeds his call, and lightning strikes. 

The magician disappears from in front of him. 

He stills and listens. Invisibility, of course. Snow crunches behind him and Thor calls a wall of lightning to surround him. The dagger still pierces his side, slipping through his armor like paper, and he feels it worse than the sword yesterday. A spell to amplify the pain, he's sure. 

He screams and feels it withdraw, but there's something inside his flesh, crawling into him. 

“Fuck!” He tries to relax but he's panicking already and he can't bring himself to look at Loki. To look at anyone. 

This magician did not underestimate him, and Thor will do him the honor of a quick death for it. The parasite spell rips something inside of him and he falls to his knees, blood pouring from his mouth. 

He can't interrupt the attack, it will take too much energy and he still can't see the damn Svartalf. 

The ground beneath him shifts. It becomes soft and Thor gets no chance to move before it swallows him. Dirt surges into his mouth and tries to force its way into his lungs. This magician means to tear him apart. 

Thor hears a shrill scream, his name. Loki screams for him, crying out loud enough to be heard where he's buried. 

Mjolnir sings in his hand. This match has to end. He calls the full force of the skies down and feels himself cleansed of the curses that try to break him. It was a good attempt, truly, but he will not and cannot lose. 

Thor doesn't bother with control as he climbs up to the surface. Let his father protect the crowd, Thor's only job is to make sure Loki never cries out like that again. 

 

The sky is falling. Lightning rains down so heavily that Odin has had to step in and contain his son. Loki sees Thor crawl up out of the dirt and the ground begins to quake beneath them. The ice cracks and breaks. He's commanding a realm that didn't even birth him. A true king.

 

Thor can feel the Svartalf by finding the gap in his lightning. He runs forward and tackles the magician, pinning him under his body. Delight rises in his breast for the fear from the man beneath him. 

He only lets the lightning stop when his hammer connects to the Svartalf's head. The first hit kills him, but Thor brings his hammer down again and again. Blood splashes across his face, bone splinters and breaks, tissue sticks to the metal, to his fingers. 

Rage takes over his system and he only stops when there's no head left on the Svartalf's shoulders. The snow is soaked and melting with blood and viscera.

Thor stands and turns to the crowd. Even the giants recoil.

“Does anyone else dare challenge me?” He shouts as thunder splits the sky. 

Silence follows. Thor rips off the armor on his torso and tosses his hammer aside. He waits, pacing around the arena. 

Laufey stands and Thor stops and holds his head high. The king of all Jotnar, his future father in law, claps three times. 

“I will accept no further offers for Loki's hand. If only to spare the realms the depth of your rage, mighty thunderer.” Laufey is smiling at him and the horns sound the official end of the match. 

Thor steps forward and kneels at the steps before Laufey, his head hanging low. “Laufey-king, I ask permission to remain here and finish out the rite of betrothal. I owe you seventy years yet, please let me fulfill them.”

Loki gasps and Helbindi begins a warrior's chant that the other giants quickly join. Hundreds of voices call to him and welcome him as a brother. Loki sings to him with them, his voice light and seeking him with magic that curls around his neck like an embrace. The song crests into a wild roar that Thor joins with thunder. They cheer to hear him.

Laufey holds his arms wide and the song calms to a low murmur. “Odin, what say you? You're his father and king.”

Thor lifts his head and sees his father smile. “Thor is a man and can make his own choices and his own promises. I do not object.”

Laufey grins and motions for Thor to stand. “We accept the honor, we will be glad to house you once more, Thor-prince.”

 

Seventy years. Loki's head is spinning as he dresses for the feast to mark the tourney’s end. He'll be nearly grown by the end of it.

Gold drapes around his neck, fine chains from the chests that Sif brought in. Loki looks in the mirror and sees her behind him. 

She smiles and steps forward, handing him a very handsome metal glove of delicate chainmail and saw-cut filigree. 

“I have never seen Thor so angry as he was at that Svartalf. He has killed before, you know, when intruders came to our borders, he killed three of them but he was so controlled then. They were dead before they knew it. That was a berserker out there.” She helps fasten the glove around his wrist. 

Loki flexes his fingers and smiles. “My future husband.”

“Verily,” she replies, “future king, as well. He's asked I be his banner-maiden, which would mean that I would stay here with him. I wanted to ask if that's agreeable to you, highness.”

Loki nods and hears the music start downstairs. “I'm lucky to count you as a friend, and now you'll get to actually see my home instead of having to rely on Thor's stories.”

She laughs and walks him down to dinner as his personal guard. Thor smiles so wide, eyes so bright and beautiful, Loki rejoices to see it. 

 

The feast lasts through sunrise and only ends when Thor's father takes his leave to return to Asgard. 

Thor walks him to the bifrost site. “Thank you for allowing me to stay, father.”

Odin lays a hand on his shoulder and smiles. “I'm proud of you, Thor. I'll smooth things over with your mother, since you did nearly kill your own cousin.”

Thor barks a laugh and rubs the back of his neck. “Thank you for that as well. I'll see you in seventy years.”

The bifrost cracks open when Odin steps away from him, and Thor closes his eyes once it retreats. There's nothing left that will take Loki from him. 

 

Thor comes to his rooms without a shirt, without shoes. He wears only light sleeping trousers which hang so low on his hips they're about to fall off. 

He smiles, his hair loose and framing his face. “What did you want to show me?”

Loki draws Thor in and presses their foreheads together. “I'm not a normal Jotunn, it's more than just my size, or my natural affinity for seiðr. It's deeper than that.”

Thor hums and rubs heavy hands up and down his sides. “I’m listening.”

Loki steps away and pulls off his sleeping gown. He straightens his back and raises an eyebrow at Thor's open-mouthed staring. “An ice sparrow may take residence if you stay like that.”

Thor closes his mouth and his eyes snap to Loki's. A bulge is starting to form in the front of his trousers, and electricity rolls over his fingers. “You're beautiful.”

“I'm also a natural shape-shifter. I was born with the ability, no spells needed.” Loki demonstrates by changing himself below the waist, his cock retreating and a womb filling his lower abdomen, everything shifts until there’s no evidence left that he had different flesh. He could give himself breasts, but he stops here and simply allows Thor see him.

Thor steps so close their skin nearly touches and drops to his knees. Loki shudders when Thor presses a kiss just beneath his navel. Sparks tickle his skin when Thor grabs his sides. 

“You are the most incredible gift.” Thor presses another kiss to his skin, then licks one of the markings that ends just before his slit. 

Loki can't breathe, can't speak. He grabs Thor's head and pulls him away. Their eyes meet and he sees the thick length of Thor's cock and he feels himself getting wet for it. 

Finally be gathers his voice. “This is dangerous.”

Thor smiles and stands. He kisses Loki fully on the mouth, his dick insistent between them. They taste each other, and Loki is greedy to have more. He barely pulls back, panting and throbbing and slick. The next seventy years are going to be torture. 

 

Thor can’t see anything else when he closes his eyes. Loki with his skin changing, his cock and balls sinking away until there were folds that Thor wanted nothing more than to part and taste. He wants to know if Loki tastes the same in either form. If Thor sinks his tongue into Loki’s hole and tastes the slick, would it be the same taste as Loki’s spend? 

He hasn’t had either, but now he wants it all. 

His teeth sink into the meat of his hand as he spills, chest heaving. There’s no way they can wait. It just won’t happen. Thor would never pressure Loki into anything, but he knows Loki well. 

Loki showed him this so they could both make the decision. And why shouldn’t they? They’ve been promised from the moment Loki was born. Who can tell them no? What difference is it if Thor has him now or in two hundred years? 

The air chills his skin for the first time since he arrived, his sweat is making him sticky, his cum is making him sticky, and his entire body feels too small for the energy it holds. 

He bathes and tries to meditate. 

 

Loki declares that Sif needs to see the countryside. She needs to see the forts he and Thor made before, all of them still standing right as they did decades ago. 

It’s a fine plan until Helbindi decides to tag along. Then Helbindi’s attendants, then Loki’s own, including Brynna. Thor doesn’t complain, but Loki does. Laufey won’t step in. Of course not. Helbindi is older and he does whatever he wants, including ruining a perfectly lovely camping trip.

It’s not fair. 

 

Thor is and isn’t grateful that his future brother in law tags along with an entire retinue, and it’s all for one reason. If Helbindi is around, Thor can’t fuck Loki. 

Sif is laughing at him. She’s laughing a lot. Tears freeze on her eyelashes and Thor won’t help her melt them back apart. 

“Honestly, Thor, I’m glad he’ll be with us. You don’t know what it’s like to be alone with you two. Helbindi is being merciful to me.” Sif secures the clasps at the collar of her coat and fastens her sword at her side. 

Thor scowls. “Then you can fuck Helbindi and I’ll have Loki, and everything will be fine.”

Sif snorts. “Helbindi is fifteen feet tall, I don’t think it will work out.”

“I didn’t think you one to shy away from a challenge, Sif.” Thor secures Mjolnir to his hip and runs off toward to stables to meet the party. 

She’s yelling something at his back, but he isn’t listening. 

Sif rides with Helbindi, and Thor rides with Loki. The looks she’s giving him are enough to kill and it takes a lot of restraint not to laugh until he falls out of the saddle. 

 

They set up camp at the farthest fort. It was built during the last week that Thor lived with them, when they knew he had to go back because his powers were starting to manifest. 

It needs repair, but Loki and Brynna manage it in a few minutes, as well as adding to it so that it can accommodate the lot of them. He and Thor share a room, but only because there’s no privacy anyway. 

Helbindi is cock-blocking him and not even hiding it. 

 

Beasts scream in the night, and Loki looks worried as he stares out a window. “I forgot.”

“What?” Thor asks.

“We shouldn’t be camping during this season, it’s the rut for the wild bears.” Loki is speaking to him in Jotnar and Thor almost wonders if he’s not interpreting it correctly.

“Wild bears?” Thor strokes a hand up and down Loki’s back, drawing him so close he’s laying more on Thor than the bed roll. 

Loki nods and yawns against him. “If we see any we’ll need to head back. They kill scores of my people every year when they rut.”

Thor hums and drapes his arm over Loki. He’s disappointed that they’ll be cutting the trip short after only a night, but he knows they’ll make it back out. Maybe without Helbindi next time. 

 

It’s barely dawn when the screams get louder and Loki realizes with no shortage of panic that the beasts are coming to them. They must smell them and feel their territory is being invaded. 

Loki and Brynna use magic to load most of their supplies, but they aren’t fast enough. Helbindi raises a horn and blasts sound into the air, calling out for help. There’s a male headed for them with blazing eyes and claws that rip the ice beneath his feet. He bows his head and his massive, twisting horns are facing forward to gore them. 

Then Thor is screaming and grabbing the beast by the head. His feet dig into the ice and he’s got the creature stopped, arms spread wide with his hands clutching to the ridges of the horns that are still ready and willing to gut them. 

Loki freezes and watches as Thor strikes the beast with lightning once, then twice, then three times, and twists its head so far that all any of them can hear is the sickening, wet cracking and popping of a fracturing spine before the whole, huge girth of the animal falls to the ground dead. 

The rest of the pack backs off with the big one dead, none content to join him. 

Helbindi drops his bag. “And to think, I came to protect you.”

Loki gapes and scoffs at his elder brother, then runs forward where Thor is examining his kill to shove his tongue as deeply into Thor’s mouth as he can get it. Helbindi makes retching noises, and yells that he didn't mean from Thor, but Thor moans into his mouth and holds him close, so Loki won’t stop. 

They drag the beast home and Laufey won’t believe how it’s been killed until Helbindi tells the story. Typical. 

 

They’re fine for almost forty years. Loki will sometimes shares his bed, and sometimes shares his bath, but they control themselves. They’ll wait until the wedding, or if not then just until Loki is of age. Thor can honor his own traditions and be patient. 

Then a warm spring hits and Loki saunters into his room one morning in silk so thin it’s transparent. Thor can see the slim curve of his hips and the way his markings swirl across his dusky blue skin. Those gorgeous red eyes land on him half-lidded. 

Gold glints from under the fabric, and Thor breaks when he realizes what it is. It’s one of the wedding gifts from the tourney chests. Body jewelry that hugs him and shines, studded with gems that concentrate around the root of his cock. 

“Loki, I…” Thor swallows and can’t do anything except sit as he is in his bed, leaning his weight on his fists with one leg bent because he was going to get up but now he can’t move. 

Loki stalks forward, hips swaying, a smile on his lips. The sun has barely risen, they’re both ahead of it. Thor is harder than he thinks he’s ever been and his mouth waters when he sees Loki’s cock leaking prespend that creates a dark patch on the silk. 

He stops at the edge of the bed, only for a moment, his eyes raking up Thor’s body in a gaze that’s felt. Then he crawls up on all fours until their chests are pressed together. His body fits so well between Thor’s legs, and his added weight makes Thor sink to his elbows. Loki smiles and presses a kiss to his throat. 

Thor moans and his breath stutters. “Loki.” 

“Who will tell us no? As long as you don’t sew seed in me before we’re married, who can say anything?” Loki bites the apple of his throat and then licks it. 

Thor swallows and lets go of his restraint. Loki’s right. If he stays in this form, if he has no womb, then what can anyone say?

 

The silk is in tatters, the chains are busted apart. Thor throws him down on his back and Loki can’t even be bothered to care about the way the broken jewelry digs into his skin. They’ve waited so, so long, and he’s just shy of being fully of age. After the tourney no one would dare get between them now. Loki is wanted and needed and he’s safest here with Thor above him. 

As soon as Thor sucks his cock it’s all over and he can’t even care that he’s finished so quickly because Thor swallows him down and drinks from him. It’s the most intense thing he’s ever felt, tears spill out of the corners of his eyes from the heat of Thor’s mouth and the gentle suction as Thor swallows every drop spilled. 

He pulls Thor up and kisses the taste of himself from Thor’s tongue. His legs hitch up Thor’s sides, it takes so much restraint not to change himself into a form that Thor can just sink into. 

Thor is stroking himself roughly, rubbing the weeping head against Loki’s belly. Thunder cracks outside and Loki laughs. 

“I’m taking that as a compliment.” Loki says, teasing as he drags his nails down Thor’s sides. 

Thor gives him the most helpless look, mouth open and eyes wide, then cum splashes across Loki’s stomach. It’s the best thing he’s ever seen and wants it again and again every morning and night until he dies. 

Loki gathers Thor’s spend on his fingers and tastes it, laughing at the way Thor growls. An animal in the form of a prince.

 

Helbindi has him cornered in the training grounds, and it takes Thor half an hour to convince him that Loki didn’t shift forms. They did nothing that could cause embarrassment. 

Laufey, so mercifully that Thor has never been more grateful for anything, says nothing. 

His mother shows up in his room the same night. It’s just an illusion of herself, but Thor still finds himself cowed. 

“Mother.” He says, not meeting her eye. 

“You do know why, that even if you don’t wish to wait for wedlock, you must wait until Loki is declared, correct?” Frigga is a queen, a true queen, and Thor sometimes forgets this because she’s also his mother who is the softest and most loving person in any realm. 

But Thor doesn’t know, and he won’t lie to her to appease her. He respects her more than that. “No, I don’t. We’ve been promised since Loki was a baby, why can’t we have this?”

Frigga sighs and some of the queen slips back, more of his mother showing through. “Thor, it’s to protect you,  _ both  _ of you. There are very clear laws about consent—”

“I didn’t hurt him!” Thor yells at her, in an instant he’s so angry that his hands and breath tremble, he can’t believe she’d say such a thing. Does she not know him? Did she not raise him?

She holds her hands up and her eyes harden at having been interrupted. “It’s not about that. He’s still too young. You have to wait, Thor. Not even another full century, and his people will declare him of age.”

He grinds his jaw and sends his fist through a wall. His knuckles are split, bones broken. His hand met the rock that lies beneath the ice and his blood freezes on it. Frigga sighs. Thor can’t look at her. 

“Fine. I’ll do as you ask, mother.” Thor walks out of his room and heads for Loki instead of the healers. 

 

Loki frowns and heals Thor’s broken bones. He knows he’s being petulant, pouting as he works. “It’s ridiculous. What difference does it make, this century or next?”

Thor looks tired. “It’s about the laws governing consent in the realms. Asgard cannot enforce what it does not follow.”

Loki stops, his brows drawing together. Pain sings out in his stomach, in his chest, he hasn’t been so hurt by simple words since he was told a foreign king wanted to take him from Thor. “But I came to you.”

Thor nods but won’t meet his eye. “Aye, but you’re not yet an adult and if someone truly desired, I could be put on trial for touching you as I did.”

Loki holds Thor’s hand so tightly he’s afraid he’ll break the bones he just mended, his eyes burn with tears that he blinks back. “This is not fair.”

Thor meets his eyes then, and his sadness melts away as a smile lifts his face. His hand, warm and perfect, slides around to the back of Loki’s neck. “We will have each other for thousands of years, Loki. I can wait, we have to. Besides, my mother said it wouldn’t be a full century. I think Laufey means to declare you early.”

Loki eases his grip on Thor’s hand and presses their foreheads together. “He could declare me tomorrow, then.”

Thor laughs. “That would be a dangerous precedent to set. We’ll be fine. You know you have me, my love.”

Loki slides his fingers over Thor’s collarbone. “I’d have more of you, though.”

“You’ll have all of me, any way that I can give myself to you.” Thor kisses him, sucks on his bottom lip and pulls him close. 

Loki sits in Thor’s lap and forces himself not to escalate it beyond kissing. But when he feels Thor’s cock grow thick under his ass he can’t help himself from grinding on it. 

“Loki,” Thor says, tone sharp. He likes that voice more than he probably should.

He laughs and draws Thor in for another kiss. They stay pressed close and kissing for hours until Thor has to leave to go sleep. 

They break fast together in private, Loki slinking into Thor’s chambers and demanding it with the pout he knows Thor can’t resist. Thor doesn’t seem to try.

 

Even after his seventy years are spent, Thor doesn’t leave. He sends word back to Asgard that he will await his wedding with his intended. No one seems surprised, Odin doesn’t make much fuss. There’s no use in him returning home and spending decades just missing Loki. He won’t bear it.

The rest of the time passes so quickly. Not even forty years until the announcement of Loki’s coming of age is made and invitations sent. 

Laufey has asked for Thor’s presence privately. He isn’t sure what to think. It’s days before the ceremony to declare Loki an adult. He’s been waiting eight hundred years for this day and the anticipation is making him so antsy. 

Thor fidgets with the same metal marbles he’s had since he was an adolescent. He turns them over and over in his hand to draw his power out and calm himself. Helbindi is tall, proud, and silent as they approach Laufey’s receiving room. Dully, Thor realizes he’s never actually been in here before. 

They stop at the door and Helbindi smiles down at him and opens it for him. “Have a good talk, brother. We can train after.”

Thor smiles but is too stunned by the word ‘brother’ to reply. Helbindi has never once called him that. 

Laufey sits on an icy throne, almost blending into the deep blue of the room if not for the red of his eyes. For the first time since boyhood, Thor feels trepidation as he approaches the king. 

Laufey must sense it from him, because he smiles. “Fear not, Thor-prince, nothing is wrong.”

Thor relaxes when Laufey addresses him like he’s a Jotunn, a respect first paid after Thor murdered a man in front of him. “Apologies for my demeanor, Laufey-king, there’s just a lot of excitement right now.”

“Yes, there is, it’s why I asked you here.” Laufey stands and walks to a balcony overlooking the city. Thor follows him and finds a deep love warming him when he looks at Utgard below. “My queen died the night Loki was born, and we thought to lose him too, then we realized what he is. There are many words for it across many dialects, but they all mean the same thing. Loki is both my son and my daughter, a prince and a princess. He will be your king and your queen.”

Thor nods and listens. He and Laufey have never been alone before, and he finds himself relaxing into whatever this is, into however this will change. Jotunheim has been his home for over one hundred years, and this city, these people hold such importance to him. 

Laufey speaks again when they both spy wagons on the horizon. The first guests come to attend Loki’s ceremony. 

“Normally one such as Loki would take precedence in the line of succession. They are rare creatures, gifts that are born only once in every fifty thousand births, usually less than even that. Instead, I called Odin and asked to give him to you.” Laufey looks down at him. “Do you know why?”

Thor shakes his head. “I’m grateful, but no.”

Laufey grins wide. “I know you’re grateful, prince, but it has nothing to do with you. I gave him over to Asgard to secure a future for my people. I love my sons, and I would like to see both of them crowned as kings. If they both rise to power, then Jotunheim will prosper in a way she never has before, and never could on her own. We have been ruined by wars before, beaten and defeated by even your father. I never want that for the Jotnar again.”

Thor doesn’t know what to say, he watches the raven-crested banners of his father’s retinue roll in. 

Laufey takes a short step, then leans over and grabs something from his desk just inside the doors. He hands it to Thor, watching as its opened. A scroll, made small enough for Thor to hold it. He wonders at who wrote it until he sees the words. It’s Loki’s hand-writing, and it’s written in Aesir script. 

A pledge of fealty and loyalty from Jotunheim to Thor. Not to Asgard, not to Odin, but to Thor himself. 

He stares up at Laufey, brows drawn together. “I don’t understand.”

Laufey laughs quietly. “I watched you kill a man because he thought he could win my son like some prize. You terrified even us in your fury. I think you share my love for this realm and for these people, and if you ever ask it, Thor-prince Odinson, we will heed your call to arms.”

Thor rolls the scroll back up, places it back in its container, then tucks it into his belt. He looks at Laufey and tries to calm his racing heart. “Jotunheim will rise, and Asgard will rejoice to meet her.”

Horns sound to mark Odin and Frigga’s arrival, and he and Laufey smile at each other. 

 

Loki moans into Thor’s mouth where he’s pinned against the wall. He feels the scroll he wrote digging into his hip and finds himself glad that he kept practicing the Aesir language in his time away from Asgard.

Brynna and Sif enter Thor’s chambers, the doors are just wide open because they couldn’t be bothered to close them, but Thor doesn’t pull back for several seconds. Not until it becomes clear the ladies won’t leave. Whatever it is, it can’t wait. 

He smiles at Loki as he speaks. “What is it?”

Loki revels in having Thor’s attention so completely. Then Frigga and Odin walk in and the two of them jump apart from one another. Thor’s parents seem amused more than anything, but Loki can’t help the blush that chills his skin 

He gives a proper bow to them both, and accepts the hug Frigga wraps him in. “It’s good to see you, Loki!”

“You as well, Allmother.” He presses a kiss to her cheek as they part. 

Odin inclines his head and Loki inclines his back, lower than Odin’s. 

Frigga clasps her hands together and smiles as she speaks. “May we dine together, tonight? We haven’t seen the two of you in over a century.” 

Frigga’s love is something so intense that it makes Loki’s insides tremble. He’s never had a mother, he killed her when he was born, and can’t understand sometimes how he could be so lucky to have Frigga look at him like he was born to her. 

Thor smiles and gently touches his back before speaking. “Of course, it would be nice to have time with you before all the feasts and ceremonies.”

 

The dinner with his parents was so easy, but the night after filled him with nervous energy. He hasn't slept but he doesn't feel tired. As a prince he stands tall and watches the doors open for Loki to be presented.

Thor’s breath catches in his throat as Loki walks toward them through the great hall. His head is wreathed in ice and flowers that drape around his face. He’s so beautiful and his head is held so high. 

Their eyes meet where Thor stands at Laufey’s left side. Loki squares his shoulders and lets his hips sway as he keeps walking. Thor will have him after tonight, and this time, truly, no one can say anything. 

Laufey begins the song that declares Loki an adult. It’s a mix of traditional songs, pronouns mixing from masculine to feminine, calling him prince and princess. 

Tears stream down Loki’s face and he smiles as he joins them, but Thor can hear his voice breaking. Loki is seen by the people. Truly. 

Thor fills the sky with lightning and thunder to flood the hall with light, to have his true voice join the song. Helbindi strides forward and lifts Loki from the ground for a dance. Love and joy flow over and Thor has to wipe tears from his eyes to see them together. 

Loki streaks color and light through the air with his magic. Helbindi sets him back down as the song comes to its end. 

In the silence that follows, ice encases Loki’s body, growing up from the floor until he’s fully sheathed in it. 

Laufey smiles and a low, deep chant begins. The ice cracks, Loki steps free, and Laufey roars his pride. 

“Let it be known on this day, Loki, born of my blood as king, is no longer a youth, but a giant with the rest of us!” He stomps on the floor and begins another song, one of many that will carry them through the next three days of festivals and feasts. 

 

Loki wants to drag Thor away as soon as the feasts end, but neither of them have slept and he can’t keep his eyes open. Thor carries them to his room and lays him down. The only thing he wears is a short silk gown that goes to mid-thigh. 

He whines when Thor’s weight leaves the bed, and frowns when Thor laughs at him. “Come back.” 

Thor does, curling into his side, all heat and skin. Deliciously naked but Loki is too damned tired to do anything about it. 

He presses his face into Thor’s chest. “When I wake up, you’re going to fuck me.”

Thor hums and nods, then yawns loudly. “Sleep first, I’ve been dancing and drinking for three days.”

His sleep is the most peaceful of his life. 

 

Thor wakes to Loki clinging to him. It’s dark out, Thor can’t be sure what time it is, but night is still deep and Loki is awake and has slipped out of his sleeping gown and he belongs to Thor. 

“Thor, now, we’ve waited too long, come on.” Loki is pulling at him, drawing him further into wakefulness.

Thor nods and rolls on top of Loki. “Yes, yes, okay.”

They kiss and it’s not desperate like every other they’ve shared. Loki rubs his shoulders and tangles his fingers into Thor’s hair and the kiss breaks because they’re both smiling. It’s perfect. Thor can’t help rubbing his nose along the side of Loki’s. 

Loki rolls his eyes and wraps his legs around Thor’s waist, raises his eyebrow, a clear urging to get with the program. Thor reaches down and gasps when he feels the form Loki is in. 

“You’d give me this?” He asks, dipping a finger into Loki’s body.

Loki sighs and nods. “If you’ll hurry up and take it.”

Thor chuckles and slides another finger in. He’s never hurt Loki in his life and he won’t now, not when it’s so important. “I’d have something first, if you’ll allow.”

“Oh, Thor,  _ come on _ .” Loki actually digs a heel in to kick him in the ass at that. 

Thor pulls his fingers free and laughs, sliding down before Loki can stop him. He meets Loki’s eyes once he’s where he wants to be, and places a soft kiss to the top of Loki’s slit. 

 

He’s a demon in Aesir skin and Loki couldn’t love him more. Thor’s tongue is so hot when it licks from bottom to top, tasting and taking him. It’s hard to breathe and harder to think. He just stops, the world stops, and all he can feel is Thor licking and licking and—

“Oh, there! Do that again!” Loki reaches down and grabs at Thor’s hair, holding him in place. “Yes, more of that.”

Thor moans loudly and obliges him, two fingers in his body and that deliriously hot tongue laving at his clit. Loki is shaking, he’s never been able to do something this good for himself. All he could do was conjure an illusion of Thor watch him get himself off, but those always made him feel emptier than before. 

This, though, is the opposite. This is a fullness he can’t believe was ever denied him. How could they have kept this from him? From both of them?

Thor’s tongue does something wonderful and Loki’s breath hitches and he can’t bring himself to feel bereft because now he never has to be without this. Thor is his, his, all his. 

Moans are muffled against his skin as Thor continues about his task, his beard scraping against Loki’s skin in a way he never wants to forget. He can’t keep from rolling his hips, chasing that perfect touch, fucking himself on Thor’s fingers as a third enters him. It’s the most he’s ever had inside himself and he moans when he thinks that Thor’s cock has to be so much bigger. 

 

Loki tastes better than anything Thor could have imagined. He can’t describe it, nothing matches it, and that’s what he loves. When he’s done he’ll pull away and the echo of that taste will be in the back of his throat. 

Thor rubs his tongue on Loki’s clit, moaning when it swells harder on his tongue and more wetness coats his fingers. He looks up and meets Loki’s eyes and presses his tongue hard against Loki’s clit. That’s all it takes, and Loki shouts, his whole body convulsing as he cums. It’s so beautiful Thor can’t look anywhere else but at Loki’s face. 

Then there are shouts in the hallway and Loki glares at the door. Thor looks back in time to see great spears of ice pierce the door from the inside. 

“I will fucking kill anyone who comes in here!” Loki shouts, pushing up to his elbows. “Do you understand?”

The only sound is of the guards quickly running away from the door, more than aware that Loki would have killed them had they actually opened it.

Thor chuckles and crawls up Loki’s body, withdrawing his fingers and bringing Loki’s attention back to him. “You don’t wish to be seen?”

Loki pulls him into a kiss and sucks on his tongue, then breaks it to clean his fingers. Thor’s cock throbs hard. Each finger is given a parting kiss. “No. They don’t get to see you like this, you’re mine.”

Thor grins. “And you? Are you not mine? I killed for you, remember.”

Loki’s eyes go half-lidded, his grin crooked. “Oh, I remember how you toyed with the first two. Can you imagine if either had won?” 

Thunder rumbles across the sky. 

Loki laughs. “Oh, you can. What about that little cousin of yours? Can you imagine if he had this?”

Lightning strikes the tower they’re in and Thor hears the ice crack off the roof.

That makes Loki laugh even harder. “Or what about the Svartalf? A man who wouldn’t even come fight you himself.”

“It matters not, I bested them all.” Thor leans in for another kiss, but Loki’s hand on his chest stops him. 

“Truly, the last one was particularly brutal. He didn’t have a head when you were done. My people recoiled from you in terror. I’ve never seen them do that, not before or since. You are something to behold in your fury, Thor.” Loki strokes idle fingers across his chest, and Thor feels the cool touch reaching into him like magic, maybe Loki actually is. 

He leans down and brushes his lips against Loki’s. “I’m going to take you now.”

Loki grins and nips at his lower lip. “ _ Finally _ .”

 

Loki has torn open Thor’s back, he knows he has, but he can’t stop. Even loose from Thor’s fingers and what was the best orgasm of his life, it’s still so much. Thor is gentle, rolling his hips more than thrusting, but there’s so much of him that Loki can’t believe he isn’t forced to wear skirts. 

Thor surrounds him and fills him and this, this is where they should always be. With Thor above him, taking him, only needing him. 

He rolls his hips in time with Thor’s and works to create a rhythm to push Thor into something more. Thor grunts and gives it to him, pulling out and snapping back in. Loki gasps at it and that makes Thor growl into his neck. 

They move against each other, with each other, Thor’s cock sliding in and out of him, Loki’s clit swelling and rubbing against Thor’s pelvis. It’s perfect, moving in tandem and working in sync. He’s going to cum again, and he wants to cum while Thor is still hard. A few more good thrusts, if he can get Thor to lose control, it might do. 

Loki pushes his lips against Thor’s ear. “I’ve created illusions of you to watch me finger myself.”

Thor groans and snaps his hips up hard. 

“I’ve been doing it for decades, especially after I was told I couldn’t have you. You, the one thing that’s always been mine. I needed something, Thor, anything to make it easier. They had your face and your eyes and they would sit and watch me rub myself and make myself cum.” Loki clings tighter to Thor, hitching his legs higher and  _ there _ that’s what he needs. 

Thor grabs his hips and rests his head on Loki’s shoulder, and his restraint has gone because he’s fucking Loki so hard their skin smacks together, his headboard hits the wall, and the lightning outside is illuminating everything. It’s so bright Loki can see it through the ice of the castle. 

Loki holds his breath and feels the pressure build, lungs burning and he’s so close, all he needs—

“Loki, I can’t, I’m going to cum, Loki.” Thor is shaking and desperate. 

That's it. Loki screams as his back arches. He’s so full and he’s squeezing so tight, he grabs at Thor anywhere he can, pulling him as close as possible. Fuck, he’s whimpering and moaning and shaking and he can’t stop. It’s too good, everything is too good and Thor is throbbing, his hips have stopped and Loki groans when he realizes Thor spilling inside him. 

“Yes, Thor, yes, it’s mine, it’s mine.” He’s babbling as he pulls Thor into a kiss that they can barely hold. 

Thor is panting against his lips, and impressively he’s actually sweating as he rests on his forearms above Loki. They calm slowly, still connected. The storm rolls away and Thor kisses him slowly. 

It’s going to be difficult to walk tomorrow, but perhaps they’ll just stay in bed and not have to worry about it. 

 

No one in the castle will look Thor in the eye when he walks to the kitchen to gather a meal to break fast for them. At the mere mention of walking Loki raised an eyebrow and Thor knew it was going to be a solo trip. 

The guards look at the floor, the maids look at the ceiling, and Thor is trying so very hard not to laugh. Giants who won’t meet his eye. It’s hilarious. 

 

Loki spends two days in bed with Thor, changing and reshaping his body in every way that he can think of to find pleasure. He’s very fond of riding Thor when he has his cock and balls, his ass stretched so wide to take all of Thor into him.

Thor won’t stop starting at where they’re connected, hands gripping Loki tight enough to bruise. 

He licks up Loki’s spend when it splashes on him and gives a pleased moan. “I like that you taste different like this.”

Loki smiles and kisses the taste of himself from Thor’s tongue for what has to be the fortieth time in two days. 

 

The fact that Loki doesn’t kill the guard who knocks at their door is a testament to how they’ve tired each other out. Thor rubs along the markings on Loki’s skin, tracing and memorizing them where Loki lays half on him and half on the bed, their legs tangled together. 

Sif is announced and Thor beckons her in. She looks out the window and wrinkles her nose. The place probably does need to be washed. 

“Thor, the king and queen would like to know where the two of you plan to wed. Laufey-king agrees that the decision should be made quickly, the alliance finally sealed.” Sif glances at them, then back out the window with pursed lips.

Loki stretches. “Mm, it’s been sealed plenty.”

Thor laughs and squeezes Loki’s ass, earning a bite to his chest in return. He looks at Sif and takes a deep breath, cool air calming him a bit. 

“Tell them we’ll have a wedding in both kingdoms.” Thor says, smiling when Loki’s eyes snap to his. “We can have a traditional sunrise wedding here, then go to Asgard and have a ceremony there. What do you think, Loki?” 

Loki hums and traces the edge of Thor’s left pectoral muscle. “Your people have the tradition of the Honey Moon, right?”

Thor nods and grins widely. 

Sif clears her throat. “I’ll let them know.”

She leaves at what is almost a run. Loki climbs on top of him as soon as the door is shut again. 

He sits on Thor’s stomach, neither of them ready yet for another round. “You’d really like to be married here?”

Thor nods. “I would. Being married in Asgard will be a lovely occasion, certainly, but we’ll spend the rest of our lives there. We’ll rule there. A ceremony in Asgard is for the people.”

Loki smiles. “You want something for us.”

“I do.” Thor says, rubbing up the length of Loki’s thighs. 

He wants memories of the choices they made to stay together. More than anything, Thor wants Loki to always be as he is: icy blood, blue skin, red eyes. 

Thor spilled so much blood here, thinking he would lose Loki. It’s the best place to make the promise that they will have each other for thousands of years to come. 

**Author's Note:**

> the ages listed here are just fucking around with a roughly 5000 year Asgardian lifespan. and isn't it hilarious that i wrote an arranged marriage au where the weddings don't even happen. 
> 
> i edited this myself so any mistakes left are mine, and i hope you like it!


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